Machine bob



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAsoN o. GILLETT, or BLooMrinLD, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE ORCUTTING- SHINGLES.

Speccation forming part of Letters Patent No. 3,382, dated December 20, 1843?; Reissued April 30,

To all cli/0m t may concerns.' n Be it known that I, JASON C. GILLETT, of Bloomeld, in the county of Oakland and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Cutting Shingles; and I do hereby decla-re that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

l The nature of my invention consists in the construction cfa machine which 1 will cut perfect shingles from solid timber.

Drawing No. l, is a perspective representation of the machine in all its parts.` No. 2, is a view of the upper framework of the machine and the wheel. l

In each, likeparts are designated by like letters of reference,

(L represents the posts of the frame; b, the ties near the foot' of the posts, interlocking at the center and forming a support to the step of the shaft of the wheel; c c are two of the upper parts of the frame; they are bolted at each end to the posts and are placed sufficiently distant from each other to admit of receiving the block which is `to be cut, between them; cil (l are two like parts which cross the other at right angles and are helped into them, forming at, their connection an opening in which is placed e the box of the journal of the wheel; f represents the boxes or hoppers formed by the parts c and d for holding the block to be cut; g is `a block in one of the hoppers; It represents the hammers designed to` fall upon the blocks and press them uponthe wheel; the action of one of them isseen on block g; z' is a wheel which rotates horizontally; its lower journal turns in aboX in the ties b Z), and the upper one in theboX e; its diameter is to be such as is suited to the purpose of the machine; it is to be of suiiicient thickness to secure to it the necessary strength and is to be fitted on the circumference for receiving a band by which it is to be propelled.

In the upper surface of the wheel are two knives la, 7a, the edges of which are even with the surface of the wheel, and, in the revolution of the same, passwithin a sixteenth of an inch below the bottom of the hoppers. The form of the shingle is in the wheel, the surface of which between the knives, is re duced below theedge of the same, equal to the thickness of the shingle. Before one knife the back of the shingle is toward the circumference ofthe wheel-before the other n 184,4, No. ce.

it is toward the axis, so that, there being ,enter the block at the end nearest the aXis of the wheel and cut the shingle diagonally to the course of the grain, but one knife being in the blocks or in the operation of cutting' at the same time. The shingles, as cut, pass through the wheel and drop below. The wheel may be constructed of wood or of cast iron; in the' former the width of the knives requires to be seven inches, in the latter, ve. The under side of the knife bevels three siXteenths of an inch to the inch, the first three inches back from the edge being slightly concave; the upper side bevels one sixteenth of an inch to the inch one inch back from the edge, the remainder of the surface being even with the surface of the wheel; the knives are secured to the wheel by two bolts at each end.

The drawings represent a machine the wheel of which is 5 ft. in diameter. vThe dimensions of its respective parts are asfollows, to wit: The posts are 5% inchessquare by 2 ft. 8 in. in length; the ties are the same size square by 5 ft. l in. in length, and, are tenoned into and bolted to the posts; the hopper timbers are 2 by 7 inch plank G feet in length; the hoppers are 18% inches in length by'pt inches in width, the size cal culated for fourby eighteen inch shingles; and the shaft ofthe wheel is cast iron, three inches in diameter. When made of wood the wheel is of uniform thickness, the circumference being thick enough for a band, when made of iron a flanch is cast upon the circumference for the band. When a wheel of different dimensions is used, the other parts of the machine are to be correspondingly varied. The width of the shingles is varied by varying the width of the hoppers. In

the same machine the width of the hoppers is varied by the insertion of slides into them of such thickness as will reduce them to the width of the shingles required. Z represents `a slide as designed to be used, it being held in one side ofthe box by a groove at each end into which it is dropped.

My leading design has been to invent a machine for cutting shingles, and I have styled it, when used for this purpose, the self feeding shingle cutter. But the machine is calculated for a more general'use. By making the depression in the wheel of the same depth below the edge of the knives from the axis to the circumference, stuff may be cut of uniform thickness and suited to every variety of use. In this general adaptation of the machine I have termed it, the self feeding wood cutter.

rIhe machine may be propelled by any adequate power, whether of steam, water horse or hand. The power is applied by a band to the circumference of the wheel.

The manner of using the machine is, when the power is applied, to raise the hammers, place the blocks to be cut into the hoppers and let fall the hammers upon' them. As rapidly as the blocks are worked through, others are thrown into the hoppers. The shingles or stuff cut drop beneath the machine and are thence removed as fast as necessary. When the blocks are first thrown into the hoppers, their weight is suiicient to feed the machine. To provide for the reduction which takes place in their weights as they are reduced in size, the hammers are so adjusted as to increase, in descending into a horizontal position, their weight of bearing upon the blocks, in the same ratio that the weight of the blocks diminishes, thus securing a uniform weight of the blocks and a uniform feed of the machine. j

I have perfected one of the machines and claim for it the property of cutting any even t-he hardest woods, when properly steamed, without, in any respect, splitting, checking or breaking the grain. The superiority, in this respect, which it po-ssesses over other machines designed for the same use, is due, to the bevel of the upper surface of the knife, the nearness of the passage of the knife beneath the bottom -of the hoppers, the diagonal entry and passage of the knife through the block and the shape of the shingle or article cut which is entirely in the wheel. It is a principle well known to workers in timber, that when a thin portion is to be cut off, the fiber is less broken when the part removed is of uniform thickness, than when its thickness increases. In accordance with this principle, I have given the upper surface of the knife the requisite bevel to prevent its tendency to feed deeper into the block. The knives are so adjusted as to cut alternately the opposite ends of a shingle from either end of the block, which allows them to pass so near the bottom of the hoppers that they do not split nor break the edge of the shingle in passing out of the block. This adjustment of the knives together with the bevel of their upper surface and the construction of the shape of the shingle or article cut in the wheel, are distinguishing peculiarities of my machine. Its superior advantages over other machines are, it cuts eight shingles at a revolution; by the cperation of the hammers it is entirely self feeding; and the shingles or the stuff cut are a perfect article.

I-Iaving thus fully described my machine and the manner of using it, what I claimL as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following, that is to say:

I do not claim the use of a horizontal wheel, rotary cutting knives or any parts or arrangement of parts, not herein set forth and described; but

I do claim as my invention and improvement- The manner in which I have arranged and combined the hoppers, or boxes, to receive the stuff to be cut, the horizontal revolving table and the knives attached thereto; said knives being so arranged as that one shingle shall be cut by one knife before the second knife begins to operate; the butt being cut by one knife toward the shaft, and by the other toward the outer periphery, the respective parts being arranged and combined substantially as hereinbefore specied and described.

JASON C. GILLETT,

Witnesses:

LELAND KELsEY, JAS. GONN.

[FIRST PRINTED 1913.] 

